This is a seriously in-depth article about how to do content the right way.
It's fantastic.
I will be using this as a reference for myself in the months (if not years) to come. Even though you stated at the beginning that it's just guidelines, I think that you have a very non-biased view about how to create high-quality content. Some things work and some don't, it's important to try things out and see what works for you.
My favorite line out of the whole post was:
Be real to yourself: No one really cares what you do, or what you write about.
Nobody does care until they do. Find out what works and adapt and evolve over time.
Being able to constantly improve yourself is important and if you can also find some members of Steemit that are interested in what you do, you will not only improve from their feedback, you will also gain massive momentum from their encouragement and support.
Also, great point made here;
There is currently a lot of noise on Steemit: phishing, images plucked from Pixabay without added text, copy pasted articles, plagiarism and identity theft. This will slow down Steemit.
Just thought I'd bring it back up here in the comments for discussion and awareness because it was in small print. Don't fall into detrimental patterns that will not only ruin your reputation; but also Steemits too.
Hey @Calumam, thanks for taking the time while writing your comment. Good to know that our guidelines are valuable to you. Since "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder", everything can be considered as (high)quality. We have found ourselves sometimes delivering adequate quality content in our own opinion, while clients were absolutely thrilled when seeing the results, and this goes the other way around as well.
What we have found out, is that people are trying to connect with one and another. This is because contact is easier made through the internet over the years. Emotionally we are slowly starting to feel alone/misunderstood, while we feel the lack of physical 101 contact. That's why it is normal to see a shifting in human behavior. We are seeking for personal stories we can relate to.
For most of our content we will have to leave that personal drive out, to keep it as transparent to the reader as possible.
The phishing issue is a huge problem for a majority who are clicking on links without checking. While this blog post is not about phishing and there are a lot of communities like @steemcleaners and @guard trying to counter this, we wanted to point out that it is a problem at the current time to raise some awareness to this matter.
Thanks again,
XPOSED
That is a brilliant point actually. Yes, what looks good to you, may look fabulous to someone else. It all comes down to the general baselines that make something easy to read, valuable and ethical (avoiding theft and personal attacks).
That is not unknown to us all. In an ever increasing 'connected world', some of us feel further apart. Personally, I think this is a majority of us have become accustomed to instant gratification and we hold such a high regard for money instead of genuine relations.
When we find a platform that supports human interaction and genuine growth; we will all grow happier as humans. (Not to mention how important this will be when we enter the Age of Abundance).
The problem is, in my opinion, it that everything is now easily attainable. The Internet has given us so many opportunities to educate ourselves, to connect with people, to share our thoughts and wisdom. This is great! But because of this, 'easily' attainable things make us forget about physical/real attention and connection in the real world. We crave for connection in any way possible. In the end, it is all a 'cry' that is simply saying "look at me", "look what I can give/share/do" and if this is getting more attention it is quite a challenge to remain genuine, humble and never forget where you came from. Yes, hard work should be rewarded, but the reward should -never- be taken for granted.
It is good to show support, but be wise to whom you give it to. With these guidelines, I think it is a start that would give you a better picture if someone is genuine or not.
This is what I like most about Steemit: While a 100% up-vote from a minnow is worth less than a 100% up-vote from a whale in dollars, this does not matter at all. If it is the 100% you would like to give, it is a 100% up-vote you are going to give (Should be scaled for responsible whales that is). Period. And with this type of intent, it will eradicate the entire value of someones $ value in influence if this person adds a contributing comment as well. Of course, these giant up-votes will give more exposure, but the smaller votes are no less valuable than the bigger ones, and you know the drill: Go where the people are.
With XPOSED, I have a goal and it will take (is taking) quite the toll of my time and it can be risky for me personally, once I proceed to develop and introduce the project. So, I ask myself, what am I willing to share? What am I willing to give up so others can grow and benefit from that? I have worked, failed, succeed and had the curiosity to learn more my entire life 24 hours a day. That's the investment I did for myself, I've fallen more than once, ate the concrete but saw the sky as well, with my head in the clouds.
But I guess it's time to share since we only have one short life on this planet. All I want to do right now is to make a difference and have something out there that people find valuable and can change their perspective, instead of focusing only on themselves.
Cheers,
Ruben